Stored value cards, such as pre-paid gift cards and the like, are well known in the art. Such cards are typically associated with an account maintained at a financial institution that issued the card. It will be appreciated by persons of skill in the art that the term “card” as used herein does not refer to any specific form factor. Rather a “card” may be any physical or virtual device that can be linked to an account. For example, the term “card” as used herein should be understood to mean a traditional card, such as a CR80, or any number of other formfactors such as contactless fobs and the like.
Prior to using the card for purchasing goods and services from a seller or merchant, a stored value card user typically deposits, or “stores,” a sum of money into the account associated with the card. Once the card is used to purchase goods and services, the cost of those goods and services is debited from the account. If the cost of the purchase exceeds the monetary sum stored in the account, the debit transaction usually cannot not proceed until more funds are added to the account. Accordingly, stored value cards are distinguishable from charge/credit cards in which the financial institution extends credit by paying the merchant or seller and then later seeks reimbursement from the card holder.
Activation and tracking of the accounts associated with prepaid cards may be accomplished in several different ways. In one commonly used method, a centrally located host computer system, including one or more computer platforms, tracks all transactions involving the prepaid card. Activation of the card, as well as all debit and funding transactions, are communicated from various retail points of sale to the centrally located host computer system, which is maintained by the card-issuing financial institution. To activate the card, or to debit or credit the account associated with the card, the card issuer must first develop a network of point-of-sale devices that communicate with the card issuer's host computer systems. Processing the prepaid card through the point-of-sale terminal causes the terminal to transmit messages over the network to the host computer system, which messages inform the host computer to activate, credit or debit the prepaid account.
Prior art approaches to implementing centrally tracked prepaid cards involved hardware and/or software that was customized for the purpose of administering such cards. For example, a dedicated point-of-sale terminal for prepaid cards may be employed to generate the special messages associated with prepaid cards. In certain situations, existing point-of-sale terminals may be extended to accommodate prepaid cards without significant hardware modification, but even for such extendible terminals, extensive software modifications are required to permit the terminals to generate the special messages used by the host computer system to implement prepaid accounts. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method for activating and/or changing the status of an account associated with a prepaid card without requiring dedicated hardware or software at the point-of-sale or without requiring extensive modifications to existing point-of-sale terminals.